Not quite as long this time between posts...

Sigh...I suppose I am never going to be good at keeping up with this. But I'll keep trying.

Since April:
We have been to Houston (June) to see Mom, to the Panhandle (July) to see Dad
I went into pre-term labor twice (end of July and early September), but managed to hold off having the baby until early October (only 2 weeks early)
We had all sets of parents except my dad and stepmom visit us (and Richard and Leanda visited too)
I got promoted at work
My second paper from my PhD work is in press (finally!)
We brought the baby to Texas for her first Christmas

Breaking free...

I start a new job on the 7th - leaving the world of academics behind to work at a biotech company! It was a terribly difficult decision, but I am really excited to start work at a "real" job (even though it was really painful resigning from my current job).

Look out world, here I come!

Our Saturday adventure

See Phil's blog for the beginning commentary, then "Pacific Beach Standoff Ends After 11 Hours" for the rest of the story...

We were evacuated just before 11 am, when SWAT was called, and didn't get home until after midnight!! I guess they don't start counting time until SWAT shows up, the cops were there long before 11 am.

The streak continues!

I thought I left all my unfortunate incidents behind when I left Texas. Not so, apparently. It turns out that the "less than successful" bike ride left me with two fractures - a hairline fracture in my second metatarsal and a stress fraction in my third metatarsal. Sigh. Apparently it takes a really long time for these types of fractures to heal, and the more I use my foot, the longer it will take. SIGH.

Settling in...

I finally got a bike and have had several successful journies on it (and one less than successful journey involving a golf cart whose driver was on his cell phone and forgot to yield right-of-way...). I have to say that I miss a lot of things from home (in no particular order):
- Texas in general
- Family
- Friends
- Jason's Deli
- the heat (yes, really)
- Jamie Rae's magic spaghetti
- going to Target
- HEB
- the central time zone (I can't seem to coordinate PST with CST)
- having a washer and dryer inside my apartment
- Culligan water
- friendly drivers
- grass
- big trees
- lots of other things I can't think of at the moment...

FINALLY! Made it to California

Put a penny on Sully, wish me some luck...



We still have a LOT of unpacking to do, and things to finish up, but I did all my HR paperwork today, so the ball is rolling for a new start in San Diego!

Phil and I are very happy to finally be together, and Macy is too, sort of. She was really freaked out by the whole move, and has yet to settle in to our new place. Once she gets used to it, I'm sure she'll love it as much as we do.

At last!

Today I decided to take a day for myself (in between trips to work) to sort a few things out that I had been putting off. The number one thing on the list was to find some jeans, since I am down to two pair, one of which will not be appropriate to wear for very much longer since the holes in it are getting quite big. After much searching at every place I could think of, I finally gave up and went to Target to get some face cream. As I was walking to my car, I realized that Old Navy is right next door, and that Phil always has pretty good luck with his shopping there, so I went in.

I spent most of the visit shopping through the clearance racks and not finding much. I did find a bralette-minus tank top to try on, which fit okay, even though it was a size too big. While trying it on, I noticed the advertisement for the new styles of Old Navy jeans. One in particular, "the Sweetheart" fit, looked promising, so I decided to try a pair on. (Normally the problem with jeans is that, although the tag says they are my size, they are always too big). I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only did the jeans fit, but they fit really well, and for an extra bonus, there was a pair in my size that was missing the button so they were 50% off! Woohoo! I made my purchase and headed to Wal-Mart, where I got 5 dungaree buttons for $1.26, then went home and reinforced the area where the button is supposed to go with a patch and put the new button on. I am so excited that I can find jeans to fit right off the rack! Amazing! And they aren't too expenise, either.

Now, if I could just find some shorts that I like...

Rain, rain go away!

You have probably all heard about the huge amounts of rain Texas and Oklahoma are getting, but you may have no idea how hard it is raining. It comes down in massive side-ways sheets as if someone were emptying giants buckets from the sky. Yesterday, it rained so hard that if you were out in it, you couldn't even see in front of you! From the safety of my lab, this is what you could see:



The picture was taken with the camera on my phone, so I don't know if you can really make out the sheets very well, but they are there. Half an hour later, when it stopped for a short bit, this was the view:



It's crazy! And there's more rain predicted...

New home...

I started moving to a new place on Friday and have FINALLY managed to finish today. It rained so much these past few days that I wasn't able to get it all in one go. Not to mention the fact that my little Jetta only holds so much! Still, it is nice to be done. Most everything fit, but I will have to take the few things from the attic to the Panhandle to store until I have a house again.

Hopefully this will be the last place that I live here in CS!

Macy is really enjoying apartment life. Lots of things to see and smell, and she loves our roommate Jamie Rae a lot. She spends a lot of her time sleeping in Jamie Rae's reading chair.



I was really worried about how she would take the move, since she was so upset over my trip to San Diego. She did seem traumatized a bit by the actual moving of stuff from one place to another, but now that we are all settled in, she is very happy!

One good thing about living with Jamie Rae so far (and I'm sure there will be many) - I have eaten breakfast every day! I don't know why the change has occurred, but I'm sure that Phil and Mam-maw are applauding.

Oh, I almost forgot - as a bonus, I get my very own bathroom! I can finally put out the decorative towels...

"Sunny" California...

Well, I am finally back from San Diego, welcomed back to Texas by the wonderful, heavy heat of May. It was such a relief to be warm again! San Diego is nice, but is too chilly for me this time of year.

The drive out was pretty good - we got to see pretty much everybody - Mom before we left (she came to the Ring Day activities); Dad, Sheila, Mam-maw and Papa in the Panhandle; Gran and Bill at Cline's Corner, NM (they drove up and met us there); and Justin in Dewey, AZ. Most of the drive was great - lots of interesting and beautiful landscape, new things to see...The last 8 hours was horrible, though. We were SOOOO happy to get to San Diego, finally. I didn't do much but work while I was there.

Work was good. I really enjoyed visiting the lab that I was in, and I learned a lot. I got some really great data (at least I think so, we'll see when it comes to writing the paper). For now, it's back to the grindstone here in College Station, hopefully to finish up by the end of the summer!

Things I haven't been able to find in Pacific Beach...

Adam's Best Vanilla Extract

Wolf Brand Chili

Good Panhandle beef

Cast iron skillets (depsite the fact that we have been to several stores, including a proper cooking utensil shop!)

...and several more things that don't currently come to mind. Thank goodness for the internet - I'll never have to go without!

Sunset in San Diego

Phil and I took a wander into PB the other day, and ended the trip at Tourmaline Surf Beach, which is near Phil's apartment. The sunset was beautiful.


The work is going well in the lab that I am visiting. Hopefully it will continue to do so. Unfortunately, I haven't done much site-seeing or picture-taking, so I don't have any photos (other than the one above) to post!

The lemon saga is over!

I got my car back about two weeks ago after having had it in the shop since January. It turns out that the problems I was having with it were due to a "bad" part that had been put in last summer when the air conditioner went out. On the one hand, Hooray! my car is fixed, but on the other, what the ??? Why didn't they catch that 8 months and 6K miles ago?

Anyway, I'm just glad to have my own car back.

The garden begins...

This weekend, I managed to put my garden in - well, most of it anyway. I planted beans, squash, okra, watermelon, cucumber, and "Early Girl" and cherry tomatoes. The big cage thing at the end of the garden is my bird-proofing for the tomatoes. I got smart this year and put it up before I planted the tomato seedlings.



The potted plants (mostly herbs) have been growing for a while, and are doing nicely:



I still have a few seedlings that are not big enough to go in the ground yet. There are several varities of herbs, hot peppers and beefsteak tomatoes:



The rows look really nice, but were a lot of hard work. Last year, I had a lot of drainage issues, especially in the larger upper part, but my neighbor, Roy, says that I won't have those problems this year.



Macy doesn't like the rows, though, because it isn't as easy for her to wander in the garden.



The only thing I am concerned about is whether or not the soil is really warm enough for the okra. That's the thing I look forward to the most. I am going to plant some more seeds in a few weeks in my Jiffy pellets just in case. Dave has never even heard of okra before, so I am especially looking forward to having a good harvest this year. Also, Jamie Rae says she has an amazing recipe for squash soup, so I'm hoping that this year won't be as wet and that the squash won't mold out again like it did last year.

the best pair of jeans EVER!!!

I was in desparate need of a new pair a jeans, and after searching every store in the mall and several nearby, I came up empty handed. I got on the internet and searched "custom jeans" just to see how much they might cost. The second link I clicked on - MakeYourOwnJeans.com - looked very promising, and to my surprise, the jeans they make only cost $60 with shipping included!!! (see link on the left - MakeYourOwnJeans.com to check out the company) I ordered a pair about 10 days ago and have been anxiously awaiting their arrival. They arrived this morning, and OH MY GOSH they are AMAZING! They fit so well and are so comfortable - they are made of 100% cotton as well, not the silly 99% or 97% plus lycra, so they aren't stretchy and won't sag like my other jeans. Also, because they are custom made, they aren't too low on the waist, but they aren't highrise either...Alright, I know, I sound like an info-mercial, but for anybody out there who hates to shop for jeans, and/or has a hard time finding jeans that fit, this site is the BEST place to get jeans. They also do "Clone a Jeans" (which, for those genetists/microbiologists/molecular biologists out there is especially funny), where you send in your favorite pair of jeans and they replicate them for you (I'm going to try that next). Anyway, woohoo! Hooray for new jeans!

Busy, busy bee!

My burn has finally healed and it's been off to the races for things at work and school. Carrie defended her dissertation on Tuesday, Taehyun's last day in the lab was Monday, and Anh is trying to choose a job. Yi has moved to Taehyun's bench, in the first step of a musical chairs bench swap session. Chelsey (my undergrad) will be getting Anh's bench when she leaves, and Doug has taken Yi's bench. I'm supposed to be up next to defend, so I have to get busy, busy, busy to finish up.

SRW plans are taking a heavy toll, although Jamie Rae and Stacy are bearing the brunt of those and I am basically just answering email and a few other little things. Spring Break will be here soon. Sigh. Where does the time go?

My car is officially a lemon. I have begun the process of claiming so legally under Texas' "Lemon Law" and it seems that it is going to be a long, drawn-out, painful process. Sigh. I'm so tired of this ordeal, and yet it never seems to end.

No luck on the job front thus far...There's a new one posted that I want to apply for, but I need to rework my CV and cover letter. Also, Daisy booked my flight to San Diego today (hooray!) so I really have to get things prepared for that. I am beginning to get overwhelmed!

The burn continues...

Burn, day 10:



My burn has morphed into this horrible looking, painful, annoying mass of blisters on my hand. I went to the doctor (again) today and got a tetanus shot, which has caused annoyances and pain of its own, and a "stay the course" diagnosis, since apparently this is part of the healing process. The blisters are protecting the new skin as it forms, and will eventually disappear. Sigh....Eventually, maybe, but in the meantime, I don't think I will ever use the hot water bottle again!

Sigh....

In the last week I have managed to fall off the ladder to the attic (resulting in a bruised bum), slip and fall on an icy patch near the entrance to my building (resulting in a bruised cheekbone, bruised hip, and separated ribs), AND pour boiling water on my hand while attempting to fill a hot water bottle (resulting in a relatively small but very painful second degree burn). Needless to say, I am having a rough time of it! Fortunately, my cheek is pretty well healed, and other than the bandages on my hand, nothing else is visible when I'm fully dressed, so I don't look as pitiful as it sounds.

Below is a picture of my lovely burn. It doesn't look too bad in the photo, though. The discolored spot in the red area to the left was actually a blister earlier - the blister is gone now, but the skin-shell is still there which makes the discoloration. The palm side of my had looks similar, but no blisters. Also, my thumb has a few splash spots (they don't really show up very well) and blister on it, but I didn't want to take the band-aid off for the photo because it's the only one I had left...

Weekend treats with good friend...

My friend Jenny came down for the weekend yesterday - we haven't had a "girls" weekend in quite some time - and we have spent the day relaxing. Well, at least part of the day. I worked this morning and Jenny stayed at my place and read. Then we went to lunch, stopped by Target to pick up a few things and then we went and had a pedicure. A good pedicure is the most amazingly relaxing experience and the best way to paper yourself for not very much (also, it's good for your feet). As always, the folks at SuperNails were excellent and ever-attentive to details and we had a great time. I did notice something strange while we were there, however; in the chair next to me was a rough-looking cowboy! His wife was getting a mani and a pedi, so I guess he thought he would try it out. He looked so out of place - thick, bushy mustache, tanned face (with a hat line), well-worn jeans, pearlsnap shirt, Carhart insulated vest, hat in hands, and mud-covered cowboy next to his seat (which, BTW, at SuperNails are fabulous massage chairs so you get a massage while you get a pedicure) (also, you could tell he had worn boots most of his life as the hair on his legs from mid-calf down wasn't there any more, evidently worn off from daily boot wear; my dad has the same look). He looked a bit uncomfortable during the whole thing, but he seemed to be enjoying himself; I guess even cowboys like a bit of pampering now and again!

After a long and painful hiatus, a return at last!

2006 was a pretty crappy year. It was really, really busy without really accomplishing anything. I am still working on my PhD, although the end is in sight (hopefully). I guess things are looking up though - I will graduate in 2007, I will get to move in (finally) with Phil, and best of all, I will get to start something new! I can't say that 2006 was all bad, though, as several really cool things happened (like my nephew having his first birthday), so I guess the glass is half full after all.

Macy has been keeping me great company these last few months, and I have her to thank for not sinking into complete despair. She is a great comfort and very wise for a dog of her years. I really don't know what I would do without her.

I have really high hopes for 2007, and have a good feeling that it will be a great year.